After Love, the BAFTA-winning feature debut by Aleem Khan, is releasing in select theaters across North America on January 20th, 2023, courtesy of Vertigo Releasing. An acclaimed debut feature by Aleem Khan, the film stars Joanna Scanlan (The Thick of It), Nathalie Richard, and Tali Ariss in the story of a widow who discovers her husband’s secret family after his unexpected death.
Scanlan plays Mary, a white English woman who converted to Islam when she married her Pakistani husband, Ahmed, and they settled in Dover, England. Following Ahmed’s unexpected death, Mary discovers that her late husband had a secret life just twenty-one miles away across the Channel in Calais, France. The shocking discovery compels her to go there to find out more, and as she grapples with her shattered sense of identity, her search for understanding has surprising consequences.
Director Aleem Khan’s feature debut offers a powerful exploration of identity and womanhood. He says, “My desire to tell this story was initially borne out of a curiosity I had around how identity, morality, and deception intersect in relationships; even in mature, long-lasting, and happy ones. After Love is a story about love, it’s about grief, and through Mary’s journey it’s a story that reminds us that it takes more than bravery to love unconditionally; that those who betray us can also have the capacity to heal, and ultimately, to accept that sometimes the hardest thing we must face is ourselves”.
After Love is The Bureau Films produced by Matthieu Braconier, with cinematography by Alexander Dynan and original music by Chris Roe.
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